Án

Meaning of Old Norse word "án"

As defined by the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse to English dictionary:

Old Norse word án can mean:án

án

1. prep. [Goth. inuh; Hel. and O. H. G. ano; Germ, ohne; Gr. ανευ], without: the oldest form in MSS. is ón, Eluc. 25, Greg. Dial, (freq.), 655 xxvii. 2, FmS. xi. in, 153; aon, Hom. 19 sqq.; the common form is án; with gen. dat. and acc.; at present only with gen.

án

I. with gen., þess máttu Gautar ilia án vera, Hkr. ii. 70. Ó. H. 49 has ‘þat;’ án manna valda, FmS. iii. 98; á. allra afarkosta, x. 7; mættim vér vel þess án vera, Ísl. ii. 339; in the proverb, án er ills gengis nema heiman hafi, Gísl. 63, but án er illt gengi (acc.), 149, Nj. 27, Ísl. ii. 142, l. c..; án allra klæða, Al. 171; án allrar vægðar, SkS. 229; ón lasta synda, Eluc. 25.

án

II. with dat., esp. in translations or eccleS. Writings, perh. in imitation of the Lat., and now quite out of use; esp. In the phrase, án e-s ráði, without (against) one’s will, Nj. 38, Bjarn. 71, Korm. 142, FmS. xi. 153, 111; ón góðum verkum, Greg. 13; án úfláti, incessantly, BS. i. 97; ón dómi, Eluc. 39; sannr ok on gildingi, 655 xxvii. 2.

án

III. with acc., esp. freq. in the Grág., án er illt gengi, v. above; þá skal hann án vera liðit, Grág. i. 276; án ráð lögráðanda, 334; hann mun þik ekki þykjast mega án vera, FmS. vii. 26; án allan verma, SkS. 210; án alla flærð, 522 B; ón líkamligan breyskleik, ok on dóm, Eluc. 38; án leyfi, without leave, FmS. vii. 141.

án

IV. ellipt. without case, or adverbially, hvatki es betra es at hafa en ón at vera (to be without), 677. 8; þau er mönnum þykir betr at hafa en án at vera, Gþl. 379; eiga vilja heldr en ón vera þat hit mjallhvíta man, Alvm. 7: acc. with inf., án við löst at lifa, sine culpâ vivere, Hm. 68; used substantively, in the proverb, alls áni (omnium expers) verðr sá er einskis biðr, Sl. 38: Egilsson also, on Hdl. 23, suggests a form án, n.; but the passage (the poem is only left in the Fb.) is no doubt a corrupt one. Probably ‘ani ómi’ is a corruption from Arngrími (arngmi, the lower part of the g being blotted out: Arngrími | óru bornir | (öflgir ?) synir | ok Eyfuru, or the like).

án

2. and Ön, a mythical king of Sweden, hence ána-sótt, f. painless sickness from age, decrepid old age; þat er síðan kölluð á. ef maðr deyr verklauss af elli, Hkr. i. 35: the word is mentioned in Fél. ix. S. v., but it only occurs l. c. as an απ. λεγ. and seems even there to be a paraphrase of the wording in the poem, knátti endr | at Uppsölum | ánasótt | Ön of standa, Ýt. 13; even in the time of Snorri the word was prob. not in use in Icel.

án

2. the hero of the Án’s Saga, a romance of the 14th or 15th century, FaS. ii. 323–362; hence áni, a, m., means a fool, lubber.

Possible runic inscription in Younger Futhark:ᛅᚾ
Younger Futhark runes were used from 8th to 12th centuries in Scandinavia and their overseas settlements